When she opened her eyes once more, her headache had finally ebbed away enough for her to concentrate on her current situation as she frowned unfavorably over what she had just done. Looking around, she realized that it had already become night at some point.
Stars shone unaffected by the polluted city lights while the lights of planes slowly cross the scenery. The cool breeze stun her skin covered in dirt and blood.
Looking about, she found that she was in an abandoned part of some mountains and the cool breeze certainly did not help to distinguish which part of the world this was. The air was so clean that it was impossible that they were anywhere near the city. If anything the place itself felt as though it had been abandoned or where else would there be pieces of wood and debris lying in the damp soil around her?
The pain in her chest reminded her of her unattended injuries, but, at least, that so-called father of her tended to the finished blow that took the life of this child before handing the body to this new soul. This celestial father of hers did say that this beloved daughter of his had been used then disposed of. Moreover...
She gnashed her teeth in frustration as she recalled those images in her mind and the former girl's thoughts.
What beloved daughter?! This child was not only the youngest daughter of this so-called Li family but was also called "the result of the child's mother's unfaithfulness to her good husband" by others! That so-called mother, not only pretended she had been single after marriage, but must've also fooled a god and seduced him!
It was surprising how that woman had not been burnt by fire as soon as that had been discovered, but she was even locked away in a rundown shed where this daughter was born. Yet, even then, she neglected her only daughter and gave all her attention to her elder half-brothers, who have long since disregarded the both of them!
What made her become crazy enough to actually believe that they would accept her again after this?! Not only her half-siblings and stepfather, but even the servants turned a blind eye to them. She was still surprised that there would be a household in China that still lived in the countryside of the country in an old-fashioned house with servants. Shouldn't they've been called maid or cleaning ladies?
Those servants weren't anything like butlers or maids, but poor and uneducated people struggling to make a living and wore casual attires that had probably been handed down to them. Still, even people like them would still treat a child so poorly. It was simply shocking that this girl had lived to the age of twenty!
She survived by the scraps of food left by her siblings before working part-time in the city far away from home for her food. The head of the household, her step-father, was kind enough to provide for her tuition, but that was it. This child, formerly called Li Fei, took that as her only chance to get out of this household. Who would've imagined, not long after getting into the country's top university, her entire family sold her whereabouts to a child of Hades just to ensure their own safety from all of this!
Not only that, but the other demigods whom she had considered as comrades were also either captured, killed, or betrayed her just to save their own hides!
Willow heaved a heavy sigh as she rubbed her temple with her index finger in a desperate attempt to calm her nerves. In the end, how could this child be so naive as to believe those around her!
With such a circumstance as hers, who told her that she could go ahead and become careless? If she could see this former soul now, she'd have scolded her relentlessly for relaxing so soon. Moreover...
"Isn't this basically neglect, Lord Feng?" She grumbled silently under her breath.
Surely, there were other children instead of this one.
"Unless he neglected all of them..." Willow muttered quietly to herself.
No doubt, the entire Li family have either become horrified of her or will now worship her since learning that she was the daughter of a god from the children of Hades. She could still remember those cold, ignorant eyes of the household staring at the previous soul.
Her mother had also died from illness just before she entered college, so there was little use complaining to her anything. Now, what?
From her expertise, she could assume that she had probably cracked one of her ribs to the left and sprained her right ankle?
Lord Feng may have healed the formerly pierced heart, but he certainly didn't heal the rib that could be dangerously close to piercing her heart again. Just so he knows, she could only be reborn once due to luck. You can't expect her to do it again a second time!
Despite being upset, she shook her head realizing that she still need to find help. As much as she didn't want to, she needs the help of outsiders. The problem was she hardly knew where she was. She recalled the child's last memories was being possessed back in Beijing by some shadowy figures.
Now, she needed to ascertain her current position and figure out how to achieve the missions her old man had given her. The big problem now was that she was dressed too finely to pass off as a common folk.
Qipao is only affordable by the wealthy families in the past and, though years passed, it didn't change much due to the silk and effort put into its production. However, she recalled that this wasn't how she had been dressed before she became possessed.
Li Fei had been in a regular shirt and skirt before then. They must've changed her attire after she was possessed by the enemy.
Under the light of the full moon and the dead pin tree, Willow thought carefully before putting all of her weight onto her right foot and arm to haul herself up. As much as she wanted to stay and heal up, she won't be able to heal properly or formulate a plan here.
She brushed off the pink petals that had drifted onto her and slowly limped her way across the gravel road. She would like to say that she descended off the mountain and reached a nearby town, but novels certainly can't beat that of reality. She had to use all of her effort to avoid further injuring her left side and slipped a few times on the gravel before she came upon an actual stable dirt road that edged towards the steep cliff.
At that point, the half-moon was high in the sky indicating that it was already midnight by the time she came upon such an advantage. She could finally see that the scenery before her was none other than the Gui Province of China. Simply put, she was about hundreds or even over a thousand miles away from Beijing! The only problem now was-
"Woah!"
This time, not only did she fell on her butt, she fell down hard on it after slipping on the dusty road. She grumbled out curses before carefully crawling back onto her feet. Her hands were scratched and dusty, whereas her legs and feet were sore and bleeding from her trudging through the prickly bushes and stones.
Heaving a sigh and in deep thoughts, she looked around till she saw that on the side of the road was a tall cliff jutting out to the lights of the city further below. At last, civilization was in her view!
She quickly began limping down the slope as she contemplated her next goal.
Thinking back, Willow had always been a fan of myths and legends from a young age since those were the only stories her parents could share with her in her previous life. She grew up watching the tales of the monkey king and the adventures of other heroic Chinese figures and celestials since young. Never had she thought that those tales were speaking truths and not just them, but Greek legends as well!
Reminiscing her childhood times of her previous life, she recalled how she had definitely landed herself in front of a double edge blade. Completing the mission could prevent the gods from becoming angry at her and kill her the second time or it could throw her deeper into hell if she fails the mission given to her.
Willow frowned and shrugged her shoulders. She had already gotten this far into the game that she may as well just do her best. Of course, her best isn't enough.
She recalled that Li Fei had only realized her powers during the time she hit puberty and accidentally burnt one of her brothers' favorite handcrafted sling-shot. Nobody knew that she had been the one to have burnt the thing, so her brothers blamed the servants for losing it. If they had known it was her, Li Fei believed that they'd have either forced it out of her or told their father and disowned her immediately. However, now that didn't matter.
No doubt Li Fei had either been disowned by the family or they would seek her out for her favor. The only problem now was that she had a pretty good blank period of time where she didn't recall anything and, from the last time she remembered the date, it was in the middle of winter. The worst time for her and her abilities since the cold air and rain can potentially weaken her fire abilities.
Either way, she no longer have any connections to the Li family and recalled the middle son of the family having kindly informed her over the phone that the father had removed her from the family line shortly after she left for college.
Willow remembered that, out of all the members of the family, the second child was the only one that distanced himself from the family affairs and neither cared much about her nor hated her as he did with their mother. However, that didn't mean she can rely on him. Instead, she should try heading into town and find help. Luckily, the Li family should be further west from the Gui province. Aside from the lives taken or hurt, she only hoped that the damage the previous soul caused wasn't too devastating.
As she pondered over her situation and circumstances, her senses finally came upon what she had been hoping for. The sight of a concrete road, the sounds of bustling voices, and the smell of fried oil! There were even faint street lights shining down upon it as she carefully stepped off a low brick wall cutting off the earth from civilization.
Looking around, she could see that the people here had yet to be affected by the disasters from the East side of China. The night on the small rural city had become to grow light making her realize that she had probably spent a good four or so hours hiking down the small mountain. It was still night, but the small rural city was bustling as that of any other city as the night market went on. She already had some priorities in mind when she thought of coming into a civilized place. As much as she needed treatment and food, she needs to find new clothing.
Thinking thus, she carefully made her way to the bustling parts of the market through the alleys. As much as the alleys were dangerous, she can't risk catching attention through the main roads. So, with her walking stick, she picked her way through the side of the crowds. After quietly moving along the dark shadows of the streets, she finally spotted an elderly woman embroidering a large sunflower on a shirt.
As the elderly woman sat upon a stool in the far corner of the store, her teenage relative was bargaining prices with the customers looking at their wares. However, Willow's eyes weren't on the wares but on the boxes sitting around the elderly woman making denim dressed with pockets.